Derrick Rose doesn’t want statue with Bulls retirement number

Derrick Rose will be honored by the Bulls before Saturday night’s game against the Knicks, and the team announced it will retire its No. 1 at some point next season.

But the former NBA MVP definitely doesn’t want a statue outside the United Center after seeing other recent examples.

“The statues, the way people have been creating the statues, no, I don’t want any statues,” Rose told ESPN in an interview on Friday.

The Miami Heat unveiled a statue of Dwyane Wade in October and the sculpture generated widespread criticism for not looking like the Hall of Fame guard.

Michael Jordan and Blackhawks legends Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita are the only Chicago athletes who currently have statues outside the United Center.

The 36-year-old rose Retired after a 15-year career that was slowed by major injuries, but he was a three-time All-Star under Tom Thibodeau with the Bulls and the youngest MVP in league history at age 22 in 2010-11.

Rose later also played for Thibodeau with the Timberwolves and Knicks, during his second of two stints in New York.

Both the Knicks and Bulls will wear Rose jerseys during pregame warmups and he and his family will be honored with the opening of the Derrick Rose Atrium Experience at the arena.

Rose added in the interview that he believes retiring his number, becoming just the fifth player to be so honored in team history along with Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Jerry Sloan and Bob Love, will secure his place in NBA history.

“That would be my way of getting closer to the Top 75, and I only say that because it relates to the MVP,” Rose said. “Only a handful, a small group, got that trophy. And to think that that way of playing, Chicago’s way of playing, is not in that 75, it makes you think about it a little bit or question it a little bit.”

Thibodeau said earlier in the week that there is “no doubt” that Rose also deserves a spot in the Hall of Fame.

“His numbers say that what he did was incredible. “He’s had an incredible career,” Thibodeau said. “And he handled everything that came his way, whether it was being the 22-year-old MVP, suffering from injuries or coming back late in his career and coming off the bench. Whatever the role, he excelled in his role. And he was the best teammate, and obviously a great player… You couldn’t find a teammate that didn’t love him.”